The present invention concerns a watch case, in particular a watch case comprising a turning bezel and display or control elements inside the casing.
Numerous watches and watch cases are equipped with a turning bezel to display and control different functions of the watch. A frequent use of turning bezels consists in indicating a remaining diving time. The bezel is in this case fitted with a graduation scale that corresponds to the minutes traveled by the minutes hand of the watch; colored segments on the bezel are sometimes used that for example allow the diver to very quickly detect when it is time to go back up when the handle points in the direction of a red area.
These bezels, however, have the inconvenience of necessitating a considerable width in order to display visibly, even under water, the graduations and the colored zones. The notching and fixing mechanism of the bezel, for example a side spring, must also be resistant to the strong forces that can be exerted on it by the user. The width of the bezel is therefore generally dependent on the size of the information made available and by the dimension of the notching and fixing system, both of which put considerable aesthetic constraints on the design of the watch.
Are also known watch cases, like for example as described in patent CH662235 (Nouvelle Lemania SA), wherein the bezel is used to control different functions within the watch, notably the winding or time setting. In this document the bezel is in direct contact with the driven components, which makes the construction complex and requires joints to be provided between the bezel and the casing in order to ensure that it is waterproof.
Another watch in which the bezel directly drives different functions of the watch is described in patent CH343293 (R. Jecker-Meyer). CH687285 (R. Valentini SA) describes another watch in which the illumination of the clock face is controlled by the rotation of the bezel. CH685584 (Paul Feuz) describes a universal watch that allows to select the time zone by turning the bezel. CH486728 (E. Piquerez) describes a watch comprising an external turning bezel driving an internal bezel with the help of a gear. All these watches share the inconvenience of a mechanical linking between the external turning bezel and the element or function controlled inside the watch. It is therefore necessary to provide means to make this link watertight, for example with the help of a circular joint under the bezel. These joints, however, have the disadvantage of becoming deformed after repeated manipulations of the bezel. These constructions therefore are not suited to watches that must satisfy high demands, notably diving watches destined to be used at great depths.
Patent application WO99/26117 (Seiko Epson) describes a watch case comprising a turning bezel, wherein a photoelectric measurement system on the outside of the casing supplies to the electronics of the watch a signal corresponding to the position of the bezel. This solution is complex and costly to put into practice. Furthermore, the photodetectors consume electricity that must be drawn from the watch""s battery. The electric connection between the measuring system and the watch""s movement requires several wires that traverse the casing, which could cause a water infiltration problem.
Patent EP-B1-0738944 (Asulab SA) describes a watch comprising a turning outer ring equipped with permanent magnets. Mechanical means force the ring to adopt one of 24 predefined rotational positions. The chosen position is detected by means of several magnetic switches inside the watch, the status of the different switches defining a numerical signal that corresponds to the position of the outer ring and that is supplied to the watch""s electronics.
Similar devices also comprising magnetic switches inside the watch and operated by outer magnets are described in patent application CH-A3-613088 (Cetehor) and in application DE-2501973 (A. Meitinger).
These solutions using magnetic switches are costly. Each magnetic switch is a source of potential failure, which causes a reliability problem if a large number of switches are used. Moreover, the outer ring can take up and display only a limited discrete number of positions, for example 24. An increase in the number of positions is only possible at the price of increasing the number of magnetic switches and therefore the price and the diameter of the watch. Furthermore, they can only be used in electronic watches for which it is additionally necessary to modify the circuit so that it reacts to the signals supplied by the magnetic switches.
Patent application DE2010941 describes a watertight watch that can be set by making the whole casing and the movement pivot. The clock face remains however held in the same relative position with respect to the bracelet thanks to magnets. The aim of this construction is to do away with the hole traversing through the casing for the winding-up stem. The watch is however devoid of bezel. This construction comprising a turning casing imposes considerable aesthetic constraints. It is not possible to control additional functions of the watch by pivoting the casing.
It is thus one aim of the invention to propose a watch case that avoids the disadvantages of the aforementioned watch cases.
In particular, it is an aim of this invention to propose a watch case equipped with a turning bezel allowing to control the indications of the watch and said bezel having a width that is not determined by the size of the information to be displayed.
It is another aim of this invention to propose a watch case equipped with a turning bezel allowing to control the indications of the watch and that can be used with mechanical movements as well as with electronic quartz movements without the compulsory modification of the latter and without increasing their power consumption.
Another aim of the invention is to propose a watch case equipped with a turning bezel allowing to control the indications of the watch and whose reliability is increased compared to the prior art watch cases. In particular, it is an aim of this invention to propose a watch case with a reduced number of joints and magnetic switches.
According to the invention, these aims are achieved by means of a watch case comprising a casing, a turning bezel outside of said casing, the turning bezel comprising at least a portion of magnetic material, an organ inside said casing being disposed so as to be able to be controlled by magnetic attraction with said portion, and wherein said organ is of the analogue kind and can take up an infinity of distinct positions according to the angular position of said bezel.
According to the invention, these aims are also achieved by means of a watch case comprising a casing, a turning bezel outside of said casing, the turning bezel comprising at least a portion of magnetic material, an organ inside said casing being disposed so as to be able to be controlled by magnetic attraction with said portion, and wherein said organ comprises a concentric element to said bezel and is equipped with a plurality of magnetic portions so as to be able to be driven in rotation by the magnetic field of said bezel when it is in rotation.
Preferably, the information or the function controlled by manually turning the bezel is not supplied on the bezel itself, but on an organ inside the watch case. It is thus possible to make much thinner bezels whose width is not dictated by the size of the indications.
Preferably, only the organ driven inside the watch case is fitted with a system for controlling the direction of rotation, whereas the bezel is free to turn in both directions. Thus, the bezel can be very thin, allowing for new aesthetic possibilities. As the organ is driven only by a relatively weak movement by means of the magnetic field, it is not necessary to provide a very voluminous system for controlling the direction of rotation.
This solution also has the advantage that the rotation of the bezel is transmitted without any contact to the organ through the casing. It is therefore not necessary to provide holes or openings across the casing, which allows an elegant solution to the problem of waterproofing.
Furthermore, this solution offers the advantage of being able to be used with any type of watch movement to control an analogue organ, for example an additional display. Additionally, it does not require further electricity and does therefore not drain the watch""s battery.